Mike Dodds praised Dan Ballard as Sunderland beat 10-man West Brom

Sunderland earned a third consecutive clean sheet, adding to their goalless draw with Leeds United in midweek, by sealing a notable win over play-off bound West Brom who were reduced to 10-men after Brandon Thomas-Asante received two quickfire yellow cards in the closing stages of the first half.

Thomas-Asante went in rash on Jack Clarke before catching defender Dan Ballard moments later to reduce Carlos Corberan’s side to 10-men, and Sunderland wasted little time in making their numerical advantage count when Ekwah converted first-time from Callum Styles’ corner in what proved to be the only goal of the game.

It means Sunderland have now gone three games without defeat on their travels since returning from the international break, with five clean sheets in their last six Championship outings, with Dodds, again, dismissive of the notion of the season fizzling out having revealed the squad morale. 

“The group had an opportunity to talk [in the dressing room] and, to speak on their behalf, they feel like they’re in a really good place in terms of five clean sheets in six games,” said Dodds.

“Any team, if you’re not conceding goals, it gives you a really strong foundation to be successful and I think we’ve done that as a group. I want us to be a little bit more free flowing with the ball, but sometimes when you feel like you’ve got to tighten up in certain areas it takes away from that. So, if I’m being ultra-critical of myself, it’s trying to find a balance with both.

“West Brom are a really good team, Carlos is a really good coach. The sending off is a big turning point in the game but even with that I thought the performance was really professional, it was a really thorough performance.

“They’ve put three or four really strong performances together now where they look like a really strong, solid outfit. It’s easy to forget when you come to somewhere like West Brom we’ve got the youngest team in the league and we looked really mature in terms of our performance, so I can’t be too critical. I want to be demanding of them but to come here and win 1-0, regardless of the sending off, is a really positive performance."

Sunderland’s display was typified by the performance of Ballard, with the Northern Irishman integral in Sunderland’s recent upturn in defensive form – outside of their forgetful afternoon against Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday.

Ballard found himself as the pantomime villain with the Hawthorns crowd following the reverse fixture at the Stadium of Light back in December and he was a player West Brom players appeared to target as well with the 24-year-old on the receiving end of a number of robust challenges – including that of Thomas-Asante which resulted in a red card.

Dodds shrugged off any opposition to Ballard, however, insisting the defender remains a Premier League player in the waiting, with this performance another shining example of that.

“I was a bit surprised, if I’m honest,” Dodds said of the reaction towards Ballard. “The fans here will have their reasons for that, and I’m always respectful of the fans, but the first 'boo' did take me by surprise.

“He’s a good kid, Dan. He plays for Sunderland Football Club and West Bromwich Albion fans have targeted him, and that’s alright - I’m sure our fans will target opposition players in the past and in the future. It’s a part of the game. And one thing Dan Ballard showed today was that he can handle that part of the game, which I knew. I didn’t need today as confirmation.

“Sometimes when the opposition fans want to give someone some stick, if that’s the right phrase to use, and when you have  a group who are really together like our group, they really stick up for them. What it does do is it probably brings the group closer together and they got round him.

“But Dan’s a big boy. He’s an international player, he’s a Premier League player in waiting for me. He can take that. He doesn’t need the group to stick up for him.”